2008 Soccer Schedule Released

Fresh off an appearance in the 2007 College Cup, the Virginia Tech men's soccer team announced its 2008 schedule today.

The Hokies face seven teams who made last year's NCAA Tournament, including its first two opponents of the season. The Hokies travel to Portland, Ore., to begin their campaign in the Pilots Nike Classic. Tech faces Portland Aug. 29 and Washington Aug. 31.

Flying cross-country to face two tournament teams is a tough way to begin the season. However, those are the only two tournament teams the Hokies have on their non-conference slate. The other five tournament teams on their schedule (BC, Duke, Maryland, UVa. and Wake) are ACC foes.

Tech's biggest home games are Sept. 12 vs. Duke, Sept. 26 vs. UVa. and Nov. 7 when it closes out its regular season against BC. The Eagles are the defending ACC champions and were the No. 1 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament.

Other than the Oregon trip, Tech's toughest road game will be Oct. 4 against defending national champion Wake Forest. The Hokies have non-conference road games at St. John's Sept. 14 and High Point Oct. 25.

If you're looking to pair a trip to see the Hokie football team with an opportunity to see the soccer team, you have a prime opportunity the weekend of Tech's first home football game against Furman.

The Hokie soccer team hosts the Hawthorne Suites Hokie Invitational that weekend. They play Hofstra in their home opener at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5 and face Xavier at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7. The time of the Hokie football game against Furman on Sept. 6 has not been announced.

There are two other chances to see Hokie football and futbol in the same weekend:

Fri., Sept. 12: Soccer vs. Duke
Sat., Sept. 13: Football vs. Georgia Tech

Thu., Nov. 6: Football vs. Maryland
Fri., Nov. 7: Soccer vs. BC

Tech's schedule includes the tough trip to Oregon and the always tough ACC slate, but other than that, there aren't very many sexy match-ups. Also, there aren't any trips to Oklahoma like there were last year.

However, It should allow the Hokies to bulk up on non-conference wins as well as get them battle tested with one tough road trip against quality opponents. Sounds a lot like this year's football schedule.